Don't Leave The Kettle On
by Shadow of the Forgotten Ones
Summary: Soulmarks are tricky things and when they tell you the last words your soulmate will ever say they aren't omens if good. Not that Draco cares. He's happily married to someone he knows isn't his soulmate. And he doesn't think in what ifs.


**AN: This was a prompt from a good friend so don't expect any more Draco/Luna from me. This is also my first jump into this fandom via writing so I hope you like it.**

Prompt: Soulmate AU where instead of your soulmates first words to your skin it's their last words you hear them say so you don't know who your soul mate is until you lose them.

Draco/Luna

* * *

Draco sneers down at the words curled around his wrist. They are curly and messy nothing like the neat handwriting of his wife. Muggles and muggle born magic users have convoluted thoughts about soulmates. They think that the Marks tell you the perfect person for you, the one who will make your life perfect. That despite the heart wrenching pain of hearing those words your world will be better for knowing them. The sheer stupidity of most muggles astounds him.

"You okay there?" a soft voice asks, jerking him out of his thoughts. Standing there looking at him so intensely yet dazedly is Luna. The blond woman smiles and tilts her head. Age has done her even more wonders and if he wasn't married to his wife she would make his heart flutter. She still says the oddest of things but age has done him the favor of giving him a filter.

"I am fine."

The magizooligist raises an eyebrow at him, clearly disbelieving. Draco holds in a laugh. He can't remember why they started to have tea together in the local muggle cafe, the looks Luna gets are ones she hasn't gotten since she left Hogwarts, in a cheerful section of London. He can't remember why but he enjoys them. Enjoys the ease in which she gets him to talk. Draco doesn't think in what if's, doesn't like to think of his failures as failures but sometimes he wonders what it would have been like if Luna had been a Slytherin or he a Ravenclaw.

"It's silly to think those things Draco," she says as if reading his thoughts "what is, is."

"Unless you have a Time Turner," he jokes flatly. Luna smiles at him.

"Unless you have a Time Turner," she agrees opening the door to the cafe. They head to what has become their table. Draco pulls the chair out for Luna who laughs sweetly. He doesn't think of what if's. Doesn't imagine what his son would look like if Luna was his wife. Doesn't think about what could have been if he had seen her, befriended her, earlier in his life.

They chat about everything enjoying the confused glances of the patrons who are clearly eavesdropping on them. The person behind the counter smiles at him when he goes up to order their tea, not wanting to upset the owners and be tossed out for soliciting.

"When did you two meet?" The girl behind the counter asks as he waits for the tea. She's new, or at least new to Draco as this is only the third time he has seen her.

"We met in school."

She coos as she gives him the tea and he leaves the counter with a confused look on his face. Luna waits until Draco has taken a drink before saying:

"The entire staff thinks we are married. Or having a sordid affair," there is laughter in her voice as she speaks.

Tea nearly comes out of his nose.

"What?"

"You heard me Draco."

Well that certainly explains the cooing, he thinks chancing a glance at the counter. The woman smiles and gives him a thumbs up. Luna shakes her head and deftly changes the subject.

Coming home after a visit from Luna is a depressing venture. The Malfoy home is drab and quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the cafe and Luna. Astoria nods at him in greeting, kissing his cheek. They don't love each other, not in the way most media thinks every couple should. The scratchy writing that runs up her arm, Hogwarts is our school. We can't just leave it, is dark and scarred signifying the death of a soulmate.

"How was your visit?" She asks him distractedly. She cares, he knows she does but she has a hard time showing it.

"It was fun."

Dinner is somber and Draco wishes that his relationship was like his parents. They were an arranged marriage but still ended up being soulmates, still ended up loving each other until the very end. As he lays in bed he runs his fingers over the words inked into his skin. It is too dark in the room for him to read the words but he can feel the raised skin of the Mark. With a soft sigh, Draco closes his eyes and let's sleep take him. He dreams a dream where he befriends Luna, where he doesn't become a Death Eater but he doesn't dare to dream that Luna falls for him. Romantics say that dreams are wishes your heart makes, a wishful sentiment that he never understood until he woke to Astoria crying softly and clutching a photo. Not all wishes make for happy dreams or awakenings.

A week passes without incident. No letters from Hogwarts telling him that Scorpius got in trouble, no letters from Scorpius swearing that it isn't as bad as the teachers are saying it is. Peaceful in a way that he did not think was possible. When it comes time for tea they walk in holding hands. There is nothing romantic in the gesture, not really. No fluttering in the stomach, no blush on the cheeks, no stolen glances just two friends holding hands. At least that is what he tells himself.

"How is Scorpius?"

"He seems to be doing fine. I haven't received any letters. How about yours?"

She grins.

"I have received two each. It appears that the twins have found a way to slip up into the girls dormitories. Not for the girls of course."

"Of course."

It's not until Luna gets up, wanting a second cup of tea, that he realizes that they haven't let go of each other's hand. He lets go of it, refusing to look Luna in the eye. When Luna returns she grabs the hand that has his Mark. Her fingers trace the words, an odd look in her eyes.

"Love is odd. It is there but not, just like Thestrals," she whispers softly. Draco nods his head, unsure of what to say and enjoying the touch of Luna's fingers on his wrist. She smiles at him and starts to let go when a woman's voice reaches them.

"Oh dear I think I left the kettle on!"

It's said loudly and the only part of what she says that they hear. Draco feels his heart clench. She didn't say all of it, she didn't say all of it, he chants in his mind because how cruel would it be to barely see them in passing. When his heart calms and he takes a deep breath of air he realizes that he has closed his eyes. The darkness of closed eyelids gives him a sense of peace but he opens his eyes. Luna has moved from being across from him to right beside him. Warmth and stability. How did he not see her in school? Odd and unique she may be but she has this calming aura around her.

"If it weren't for your two trouble makers we wouldn't be friends," he says out loud disturbed and troubled by the truth of those words.

"If I recall right your boy was causing just as much trouble," Luna says with a soft laugh. Obviously remembering the letters she received from Hogwarts. The twins started a prank war that Scorpius got caught in the crossfire. Only instead of turning them in, he proceeded to prank them back. That had been an awkward visit back to Hogwarts.

Luna reaches up and runs her fingers along his forehead. She has a soft look on her face, knowing and yet confused.

"We cannot control our lives as we wish to. House Elves of fate without the luxury of potential freedom," she murmurs softly.

"Granger would not like that comparison at all."

"And yet it is true."

The rest of their visit is somber and subdued. Draco breaks habit by leaning over, rather impulsively, and kissing Luna's forehead. She kisses his cheek in return, both of them ignoring the cooing of the staff of the cafe.

Astoria is waiting for him when he gets home. She's smiling as she holds out an envelope to him. Curious he takes it. It's from the Ministry, he put in an application for a job. Any job really.

Dear Mister Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that despite your rocky past that we do have a job open that we believe you will excel at. Auror Potter and Ex-Auror Weasley vouch for you and say that you will be an asset. Please come to…

Draco looks up after reading the entire letter. They want him to come in the week after next for an interview, they were irritatingly vague about the job but it is a job! Most places refused to work with him because he was a Death Eater, never mind he switched sides. What surprised him a bit was the fact that Weasley vouched for him. They celebrate that night, glad things appear to be looking up. Two days later as he is sitting in his study when his sons owl flies in, a bright yellow letter in it's beak. He cringes slightly as the owl drops it and flees. Lorcan and Lysander, Luna's two boys, discovered a way to create Howleresque letters that take on the emotion of the writer and they of course they taught Scorpius how to do it. The envelope changes color with the predominant emotion. As soon as the letter is released it is opening up and speaking.

"Father! I got my Mark! I was in Professor Bins class and this pain, like bad pain, why didn't you and mom tell me it hurt? Never mind! The pain was located on my thigh so I had to wait until after class to see it. I think I know the writing so I am really happy! Even if I don't think we will be a good match I am happy that I got it!" The letter exclaims before turning blue "but father… The words.. I'm scared I won't have my Soulmate for long. Don't tell mother."

The letter catches fire, forcing Draco to quickly pat out the flames before something else catches fire. He writes his response carefully considering each word. He expresses his joy at his son's joy and the tentative hope that his son won't lose his soulmate quickly. With that finished he hunts down his son's owl.

Luna laughs watching Draco come up to her with a bounce in his steps. She always knew that her and Draco would make good friends and when their sons helped make it possible she was beyond glad. He was a lonely soul trapped in the gilded cage of wealth and prestige. But there were times, when he thought no one was looking, when he was sweet. Many of her coworkers don't understand, they claim he is cruel because of his past. They forget that they were crueler to her than he was. She wasn't a person who caught Draco's attention and therefor he wasn't cruel to her like a lot of her fellow classmates. Her laughter trails off and a pain builds in her chest. It's constricting, like a snake squeezing the air out of her. She is dying, has been since she was young but now she is closer to her death. The doctors at St Mungo's tell her that her time could be up at anytime. She knows that it will be today. She's seen the signs, she just hopes that it is after tea. When Draco hugs her she hugs him back just as tight. His happiness is almost contagious as he tells her about the job offering and about Scorpius. Unlike Draco, Luna lives in what ifs. What if her mother hadn't died? What if she had met Draco before school? What if she or Draco had been sorted differently? What if she had followed her slight crush on the handsome yet pompous Slytherin? What if? What if? Draco doesn't seem to notice that her attention isn't completely on him and she is glad. He is holding her hand again, absently tracing her veins. The sad look on his face knocks her out of her swirling thoughts and she reaches out with her other hand to cup his face.

"What's wrong?"

Draco scoffs and tries to act as if there is nothing wrong but he caves under her unimpressed look.

"What if I mess up?"

It takes a lot for him to admit that. She knows him almost as well as she knows herself. She pulls him close and kisses his forehead.

"There is a muggle saying Draco that I think applies here. Aim for the moon Draco so," she pauses. There is pressure building in her sinuses, and a creeping pain under her ribs. Her heart stutters and she knows she has to get out. She can't let Draco see her die. "Oh dear I think I left the kettle on!" She exclaims pulling away and running away.

"Luna! Wait! What's wrong?"

Tears spring to her eyes as Draco Says the words written across her shoulder blades. She can't breathe and she can feel blood start dripping down her nose. She barely makes a block before she collapses. There is one what if she doesn't think. What if Draco was with her at the end because she knows that it would break him.


End file.
